Jan Huang and the Case Against Pick-Up Artists

Jan Huang is a self-proclaimed pick-up artist in Vancouver. He charges around $1,000 for a 3 day ‘boot camp’ where he tries to teach men confidence, social skills, and the art of picking up women.

Jan has now been accused of street harassment and sending threatening text messages to women. One woman even reported that Jan put his hand close to her neck, implying that he wanted to choke her.

Up to 20 women have come forward to the website clubzone, and their stories are similar. The victims feel that no doesn’t mean no to Jan and his ‘students’, and that they are being harassed on the streets.

If a man will not take ‘no’ for an answer in a social situation – such as after asking for your phone number – he is exponentially more likely to ignore your requests in a more intimate situation. It sounds like this group is not respecting boundaries as soon as they approach women, and that is probably not going to change later on in the interaction.

Jan agreed to be interviewed by Global news, and the reporter asked some good questions. Jan apologized during the interview, stating that his art form is a trial and error process, and if he offended anyone it was probably in the error stage. His spin on the situation is that he is misunderstood and he is just trying to teach guys how to be more confident. That statement shows his disregard for women – he is using them as objects, or lessons to help build confidence in men.

Two different women agreed to go out for coffee with Jan, and later expressed they were not interested in dating him. They then received threatening text messages from him. Both times, Jan said that “we could have had love now your life will be a trail of used condoms and abortions,” which suggests this is an insult that he often uses after he has been rejected.

When confronted with the text messages he sent to one of these girls, Jan’s defense was:

“So literally that was me trying everything that I could to get an emotional reaction from her”.

Saying hurtful things in order to get an emotional response is a key indicator of emotional abuse. That is not something you would see from a healthy, stable, or respectful person.

A few men also contacted Clubzone with reports of Jan flirting aggressively with their girlfriends. Typically, women say that they have a boyfriend as a polite way of turning a man down. Most most men will back off out of respect for the stated boyfriend, if not respecting the girl enough to do so. However, this guy and his followers won’t!

Finally, in defense of his ‘students’, Jan says this:

“If guys meet a girl that they like they just don’t know what to do and act irrationally”

This is not the kind of guy that I want teaching others how to ‘pick up’. I hope his business is shut down, ASAP.

If you have had a run-in with a pick-up artist, or with street harassment in general, we would love to hear form you.
Send us a message on Facebook, comment on this post, or email us at elizabeth@wyrproject.org

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Hi!
I'm Elizabeth, a blogger on When You're Ready.org
I spent 2 years struggling with PTSD and panic attacks following a violent attack.
I want to use my experience and my voice to raise support for others. I desperately want to make the world a safer place for girls and women, especially my two little sisters.
Keep talking, Keep sharing. When You're Ready, I'll be here.

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The When You're Ready Project is a community for survivors of sexual violence to share their stories and have their voices heard, finding strength in one another. When you're ready to share your story, we will be here.